500 West 25th Street Tops Out Next to High Line, in Chelsea

Construction at 500 West 25th Street is now topped out and the installation of glass panels in the curtain wall is almost complete. GF55 Partners is the architect of record for the ten-story building while GDS Development is the developer. The site is located next to the High Line at the corner of West 25th Street and Tenth Avenue.

500 West 25th Street seen from the High Line. Photo by Michael Young

The design of 500 West 25th Street utilizes a simple grid of windows, columns, and beams, with renderings showing a layer of architecturally finished concrete in between the openings. The building’s most distinctive feature is a cantilever on the upper three levels that hangs out over the neighboring building. This is only one of two structures with a cantilever along the High Line. The other is HL23, aka 517 West 23rd Street, one of the earliest condo towers that went up after the second phase of the elevated park was completed almost ten years ago.

The residential portion of the building will occupy about 22,000 square feet. Each story from floors two through eight will contain a full-floor apartment. A total of nine units are planned, including a duplex penthouse and a rooftop deck that overlooks the High Line and the surrounding neighborhood. The lack of tall structures to the east of the site will allow more daylight exposure for all residents in the morning and afternoon. The cellar and ground floor will contain about 2,650 square feet of retail space each.

The quickest way to get on the High Line from the front doors is by walking to West 28th Street and climbing the stairs next to Zaha Hadid‘s 520 West 28th Street condominium. The second point of access is found on West 23rd Street along Tenth Avenue.

A completion date for 500 West 25th Street has not been announced yet.

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Curious that an access scaffold for the facade (at least when this photo was taken) has been erected. Is the contractor planning to continue with it to the top floor? Unusual for a NYC high-rise structure and for one thing, expensive too compared, say, to a cradle.